“I take a lot of pride in my heritage and who I am as a Native American,” said Reed High School sophomore Quecholli Nordwall.
He is a student in Christina Thomas's Paiute language class at Reed High School. That class brings in all types of students.
“Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors,” said Thomas. “We also have a mixture of Hispanic students in here, non-native students in here, and we have native students in here as well.”
The class teaches the basics of the Paiute language, but they do it in an active way.
“We do songs, stories, and dances,” said Thomas. “We play traditional games. We do a lot in our class.”
This week, they are building a Kanee, a shelter made out of willow branches that Native Americans in the West once lived in.
“We didn't' have the whole teepee set up,” said Nordwall. “We had these Kanees. These were our homes.”
They have been planning this project for a couple of weeks, but only started construction late last week. It stands almost 8 feet tall, and with proper maintenance, it can last many years.
Classes like this, according to Nordwall, helps preserve his culture.
“People say we might disappear soon and we might not exist in a couple of years,” said Nordwall. “But we are keeping it alive here. We are not going to happen.”
“It feels like I am helping to keep the language alive because a lot of people don't want to learn it,” said Junior Ethan Boston. “I'm one of the few people that do.”
Spanish Springs High School and North Valleys High School offer the class as well.
